Chapter 25: Harsh Reunions

A/N: This is where the "M" Rating goes into full effect.

January 24, 2683; 1230 Hours

Remnant, Mistral (UNSC Military Installation: Camp Vorbeck)

Ivan stepped into the large officer's housing that was granted to him and his platoon of Huntsmen for the duration of their mission in Mistral. It was notably larger and more well-equipped than his housing on Patch, the documentation on the building showing that it featured two stories, a basement, four bedrooms, a small armory in the basement, and more than enough space to house the entirety of his force in comfort.

Ivan's notably larger team of Huntsmen followed him inside, seeing that the house was already decorated in some ways, with furniture already set up. There was a lot of open space in the entryway, which gave way to the living room and a hallway leading into the lounge. While most officer's housing structures were rather barebones in their amenities, Thorne had managed to pull a fair few strings across Mistral, getting Ivan the Commanding Officer's Housing, which was nothing short of an estate.

Ivan walked around the large home, seeing that there was a living room with two couches aligned to face a coffee table and viewscreen, a fully-stocked kitchen, a lounge featuring comfortable-looking chairs and a full electronic entertainment suite, large bedrooms with queen-sized beds, a study/office space that was occupied by a desk, bookshelves, and a computer terminal, and finally the stocked armory. The armory was more than enough to store the weapons for the residents and then some. It was already stocked with all manner of advanced UNSC equipment, from the mainstay MA5E Assault Rifle to the advanced ARC-920 railgun. The basement itself was a mix between an armory, a firing range, and a small-scale combat simulator, and it was rather obvious that no expenses were spared in the creation of this building. Ivan made a mental note to thank Thorne for the MJOLNIR removal machine that was in the armory. "That is AWESOME!" Nora declared, seeing the armory, stocked with small arms and ordinance.

"Please don't blow the house up." Ren deadpanned, placing his machine pistols onto a small rack next to the M6 magnums.

Everyone stowed their weapons away in a spot in the armory, and eventually filed back into the first floor's living room. "This place is pretty cool." Coco commented, looking around. "Even has a wet bar."

"Let's leave the alcohol alone for a while." Ivan said, smiling. "Alright… now that we're all here in Mistral, we need a game plan. Pyrrha, do you have anything, anything at all, you can do here to get us a good starting point?"

"I can try to get the local police departments to open up about high-crime areas in the city and villages." Pyrrha said, shrugging. "I might be able to get help from my parents, but that's a bit of a stretch."

Ivan nodded. "Good enough start, I suppose. I was planning on heading into Mistral and getting in touch with the headmaster of Haven, see if he has anything for me."

"Most likely an exercise in futility." Winter added. "You said it yourself, they're not too keen on the UNSC, or our help."

"Doesn't hurt to try." Ivan said, shrugging. "And it'll help me get a lay of the land around here. As helpful as the UNSC's Sat-Maps are, they don't do much for us on the ground."

"I say we split up into teams." Coco added. "Work in teams of three or four, and move around from there."

"Good idea." Ivan said, nodding. "It'll be a helluva lot less suspicious if there's groups of three walking around, instead of a giant group of thirteen. How should we split up? By team?"

"That'd probably be best." Blake said, nodding. "Team RBY, Team JNPR, and CFVY."

"But that leaves Winter and Ivan as a group of two." Velvet voiced her concern.

"That's fine." Ivan said, shrugging. "Winter and I are used to working as a pair." Ivan pointedly ignored the suggestive eyebrow waggle from Yang. "We'll be fine."

"I'll make sure he doesn't get himself in too much trouble. Seems to follow him around, after all." Winter jested, smiling.

Ivan allowed himself a small chuckle. "Alright… We'll just wing it tomorrow, I guess. We can reconvene back here tomorrow at five after we've all gotten our bearings around town."

"Sounds good to me." Yang voiced, earning nods from everyone present.

"Alright, let's get settled in and get some sleep. We've got some work ahead of us." Ivan said, adjourning the impromptu meeting.

XXXXX

January 25, 2683; 1350 Hours

Remnant, Mistral (UNSC Military Installation: Camp Vorbeck)

To say that Blake was impressed by the house was certainly an understatement. Not only was it comfortable, it was right in the middle of a UNSC airbase, making it easily the safest place to be. She casually strolled around the room that she and Yang would be sharing, having stowed Gambol Shroud away in the armory and packed her clothes and belongings away. She sighed, remembering that most of her beloved books were now locked away in their old dorm room at Beacon. "Probably Grimm food by now…" Blake sadly thought to herself as she flopped onto the bed. "I never did finish Ninjas of Lo-"

"Blake!" Yang bolted into the room, startling the Faunus out of her thoughts. "You won't believe this!"

"Wha-?!" Before she could even formulate a response, the blonde had grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to her feet. She led Blake through the second floor's hallway, eventually pushing a rather benign door open. Greeting her, was the sight of a rather large bathroom with a- "Is that a hot tub?" Blake asked, stunned by the rather large tub of bubbling water.

"I know, right!?" Yang said, ecstatic.

Blake thought for a moment… wondering why it was on. "Yang… why is the thing on?"

Yang, surprisingly, seemed to pause for the slightest moment. "Oh… I wanted to use it."

"Are you asking me to use the hot tub with you?" Blake inquired, smirking slightly.

"Maybe…" Yang singsonged, pulling her yellow t-shirt over her head. Blake was completely powerless to stop the creeping blush, seeing her girlfriend's upper torso exposed. The only thing providing Yang a sense of decency was the black bra covering her breasts and the pair of black shorts. Blake's heart dropped when she saw Yang's right shoulder.

At that point on the blonde's shoulder, woman met machine. In a strange mesh of metal and flesh, the black metallic covering seemed to be implanted directly into her shoulder, with small bits of scar tissue visible from the meeting point. It seemed as if the scars were crawling out from underneath the cyberarm, which whirred softly with even the most subtle of movements. Blake must have been staring, because Yang's concerned tone drew her back.

"Blake… you alright?" She asked, turning to face the silently staring Faunus.

Blake's lips moved, but the words weren't there. The image of the woman standing before her, quite literally, leaving her speechless. Blake stepped forward, pulling the blonde brawler into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry…" Blake whispered, suppressing the sob that threatened to make its way out.

"Hey…" Yang comforted, running a hand across Blake's back. "What happened back there wasn't your fault… I shouldn't have charged in like that."

"I shouldn't have gone off…" Blake began sniffling, pulling back to let amber irises look into lilac. "I should have stayed with you and-" Blake was cut off as Yang stole a quick kiss.

"You shouldn't worry about that." Yang said, brushing a strand of onyx hair out from Blake's face, carefully placing it behind her ear. "It all worked out, didn't it?" As Blake nodded, Yang smiled. She pulled the Faunus in for another quick, chaste kiss.

Blake smiled as Yang pulled back. "I love you, Yang." She said, amber meeting lilac

Yang smiled. "I love you too, Blake. Now c'mon… We've got the house to ourselves for most of the day, might as well enjoy it."

"I'd like that…" Blake said, wiping the moisture from her eyes.

"Good…" Yang said, smiling. "Now… will you be joining me, Miss Belladonna?" Yang smirked as she began fiddling the buttons on Blake's vest, earning a blush from the Faunus.

"You're using the hot tub in your underwear?" Blake asked, eyebrow raised.

"Nope…" Yang said, smirk still present. Blake's face went beet-red when Yang reached behind her back, undoing the clasp of her bra and letting it fall to the floor. Blake had seen Yang's bare chest once before, but that was long before she had expressed her feelings towards the blonde. Yang apparently had very little shame when it came to showering after a three day-long mission in Mountain Glenn, deciding not to wear a towel when she left the bathroom to get her pajamas. Blake immediately felt a slight pang of jealousy when she saw Yang's wonderfully full bust.

"Cat's got your tongue, Blakey?" Yang asked, giving the Faunus a sly wink.

"So insufferable…" Blake muttered to herself as she unbuttoned her vest, letting it fall to the floor. She pulled her shirt and compression top over her head in a quick, elegant motion, allowing her own breasts exposure.

Yang gave a playful purr. "Ooh… kitty titties." Blake was left well and truly speechless as Yang reached down, pulling her shorts off and letting them fall to her ankles. She kicked them off with one foot, allowing herself to be fully uncovered.

Blake forced her eyes to stop wandering across the blonde's body. Damn her and that confident damned smirk. She pulled her leggings off, almost tripping over herself in her haste. For the slightest, fleeting moment, Blake allowed herself a small smile at the blonde's rather obvious staring. In a burst of confidence, she moved forward, pulling the stunned Yang into a passionate kiss. Yang melted into the embrace, allowing Blake's tongue to explore.

Blake pulled back, her body demanding that she breathe. She smiled slightly at the blonde's stunned expression, which seemed to be doing its best not to stare at the Faunus' chest. "Cat's got who's tongue?" Blake asked, running a hand through the blonde mane before her.

Yang, a few moments late, realized what Blake said, and started giggling. She ran a hand over Blake's hips, grabbing her rear and pulling her into another kiss, a kiss which ended far too soon for her liking. Yang took her turn to pull back, leaving Blake stunned as she strolled towards the waiting tub of warm water. She could swear she heard a small whimper from behind her as she walked, swaying her hips a bit.

Before Yang had even lowered herself completely into the water, Blake had made her way over, placing herself onto the blonde's lap. She gave Yang a few quick pecks on the lips, working her way to the blonde's neck. She could feel Yang's breath hitch when her lips pressed against a particularly sensitive spot on her collarbone. Yang let her hands wander where they pleased, finding a place on Blake's chest. While Blake's lips traced their way across Yang's collarbone, Yang was gently running her hands across Blake's breasts, occasionally stopping to give their peaks attention. Blake let out a moan, enticing Yang to continue.

Yang felt Blake's hands begin slowly trailing down her sides, eventually stopping just atop her thighs. The feeling of Blake's hands working their way in between her legs caused a familiar pressure to start building in Yang's core. Yang let out a pleasured moan as Blake's hand ran across her inner thigh, then moving to trace the folds of the blonde's center. Yang completely forgot what to do with her hands, settling on wrapping them around the Faunus.

After letting her fingers dance across the blonde's core, Blake let her index finger explore the inside of Yang's sex. After a moment, and moving her finger in just the right way, she heard Yang bite back a moan, letting her know that she was doing something right. She added her middle finger, allowing her thumb to dance across the blonde's button. Blake felt the strangest feeling of pleasure as her girlfriend- no, lover's nails raked across her back.

Blake continued her work, gradually increasing the pace of her wrist's movements. As she felt the blonde's sex begin tightening around her fingers, she made one final thrust with her hand, rubbing circles on Yang's clit with her thumb. Yang's pleasured moans and incoherent ramblings of her lover's name eventually culminated in a final, wonderful scream as Blake worked her to climax, causing her back to arch and her head to be thrown back in pleasure.

Blake removed her fingers from Yang, earning one final whimper as her digits slid out. Blake let a small smile grace her lips as a feeling of pride welled up in her chest. Her wonderful, boisterous blonde girlfriend had just been brought to a screaming climax. Blake realized that she had been unconsciously grinding against the Blonde's leg, her body burning with a desire to relieve the pressure built up between her own legs.

Yang sighed, looking up to her onyx-haired beloved with a smile. "Wow…" She said, her breathing still ragged. When she looked up, she found Blake's core to be pressed against her thigh, an almost pleading look on the Faunus' face. A devious smirk crossed Yang's face as she slid a hand down towards Blake's center, earning a whimper from the feline Faunus. Yang wasn't selfish enough to have all of the fun.

XXXXX

January 25, 2683; 1421 Hours

Remnant, Mistral (Haven Academy)

Ivan sighed as he climbed out of the Civilian Warthog, parked right before Haven Academy. To say that this school was impressive would be quite the understatement. Its buildings were a mix of grey, black, and white, all of it meshing together to form a strangely beautiful monochromatic color scheme that stood out against the green foliage that filled the area around the school.

Winter made her way out of the vehicle's passenger seat, taking in the view as well. "It certainly is an interesting school… if a bit ominous."

Ivan shrugged. "With any luck, we can get the hell out of here with our jobs being a bit easier. If the local huntsmen are on our side, or at least not distrusting of us, we can get this done a lot quicker."

As Ivan and Winter made their way through the school's campus, drawing the occasional look from students as they passed. Ivan had neglected to wear his uniform, opting for more casual clothes. Winter also chose to follow that route, looking to blend in a bit better. The uniformed students of Haven seemed rather disinterested by the pair making their way towards the center of the school's circular complex.

As they neared the center of the massive school, the administration building came into view. It bore a few similarities to Beacon Tower, but seemed a bit sleeker in its design, favoring the apparent post-modern design of Mistral as a whole. The city actually had some resemblance to cities on Earth, with towering skyscrapers scattered around a central city, the buildings getting progressively smaller further away from the center.

The inside of the tower was rather sparse, only having a single desk in the center occupied by a receptionist, who seemed to be typing away at a computer with passive indifference. She paid the pair no mind as they stepped through the door. Ivan stepped towards the desk, catching the young woman's attention. "Excuse me, Ma'am?" Ivan asked. "I'd like to speak with the headmaster, if possible."

"Are you a student?" She asked, giving the SPARTAN a quizzical expression.

"No, I am not."

"Do you have an appointment?"

"I do not, but it's important."

"Too important to give a day's notice?" She asked, sarcastically.

"Were it possible, I would have." Ivan said, his expression remaining diplomatic and neutral.

"Why do you need to see the headmaster?"

"Under orders from the UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence." Ivan explained.

"UNSC? What do you need to see the headmaster about?"

"Classified." Ivan responded.

The woman rolled her eyes. "Of course it is." She pressed a button on her computer, awaiting a response. She spoke in a language that Ivan vaguely recognized as a dialect of French, the meanings of the foreign words going right over his head. "The headmaster will see you. You're lucky he's not busy right now."

"Thank you." Ivan replied.

"Alright, the elevator's behind me, fifteenth floor, door at the end of the hallway." She directed, turning back to the green glow of her monitor.

Ivan followed the direction, Winter falling into step with him as he stepped into the elevator. He struck the required button on the console, causing the lift to begin moving. After the short ride, they were greeted by a small hallway with a few doors, the one leading to the office of the headmaster having a few padded chairs on the outside, presumably for those waiting to sit on.

"Well, let's not keep him waiting, shall we, Lieutenant?"

"Of course not, Colonel." Winter responded, smirking slightly.

XXXXX

January 25, 2683; 1640 Hours

Remnant, Mistral (Camp Vorbeck)

Ivan sighed as he stepped back into the provided housing, surprised to find it rather quiet. He equated it to CFVY and JNPR still being out, doing their own thing. Winter and Ruby followed behind him as he made his way into the living room, even more surprised to find the couch unoccupied, the kitchen devoid of life, and the rest of the house eerily quiet. "It's surprisingly quiet…" Ivan said, throwing his everyday carry items onto his normal spot on the counter. He worked the magnum out from his waistband, placing it on the counter, still in its holster with the safety on.

"Maybe Yang and Blake went out?" Ruby suggested, shrugging.

"Probably." Ivan said, leaning against the kitchen's island. "Can't believe the nerve of that headmaster asshole…"

"A lot of his… abrasiveness was rather uncalled for." Winter agreed. "He sure seemed to soften up when you got Thorne on the line, though."

"I still can't believe he threatened to get the Admiral and President involved…" Ivan commented, laughing slightly. "And that's why we love Agent Thorne."

"He threatened to call the President?" Ruby asked, giving Ivan a questioning look.

"Oh, he would've." Ivan said, smiling. "Thorne's one of the higher-ups in ONI, most of them regularly talk with the President. Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if this operation we're on was sanctioned by the President himself with the amount of strings Thorne pulled to make this happen."

"What happened after that?" Ruby asked.

"He promised that he'd tell his students to keep an eye out for anything suspicious and report it to the Airbase's Command if it was big enough. Anything else would be reported to Mistral PD, which would eventually make its way to the UNSC either way." Ivan explained. "Honestly… better outcome than I thought. We'll have a few more eyes and ears, at least."

"I wonder how Pyrrha's doing with the local police…" Winter wondered. "She's something of a celebrity, so I'd imagine she'll be able to call in a few favors."

"Hopefully…" Ivan agreed. He stretched his arms, standing upright again. "Alright… I'm gonna go put my stuff away and shower, then we'll get the others back here to discuss the plan."

"Sounds good!" Ruby said, smiling.

Winter gave a small smile and a nod as Ivan passed, heading up the stairs. He ducked into the bedroom that he and Winter shared, grabbing a pair of pants, an uninteresting black shirt, and stepped back into the hallway, heading for the bathroom that actually had a working hot water setting. He made a mental note to himself to get the one in his room's attached bathroom fixed.

As Ivan stepped into the bathroom, he was greeted by the sight of various… articles of clothing littering the floor. Normally, he would've immediately associated something like this with Yang just being lazy, but when he saw Blake's on the ground too, the pieces started fitting together. To say that he wasn't expecting to see Yang and Blake's underwear and clothes strewn around the bathroom haphazardly would be one hell of an understatement. Ivan calmly placed his clothes on the sink's counter, pushing the clothes into as neat of a pile as possible with his feet, and stepped back outside.

He descended the stairs, surprised to hear a familiar-sounding song playing through a small speaker on the kitchen counter. Winter was sitting on the couch, reading a datapad. She turned to look once he entered. "Where's Ruby?" Ivan asked

"She's down in the armory working with Crescent Rose." Winter responded, looking up from her datapad. "I thought you were going to shower."

"I was… but it seems that the universe has other plans." Ivan said, earning a cocked eyebrow from Winter.

"Did the water main explode or something?" She asked.

"Jesus, I wish that was the issue." Ivan said, sighing.

"Well, what's going on?" Winter asked.

"I found Yang's clothes literally all over the damn place." Ivan explained.

"Doesn't she know that we have a laundry basket for a reason?" Winter asked.

"And Blake's clothes…" Ivan explained. "Like… all of their clothes."

Winter seemed confused for a moment, understanding suddenly dawning on her face. "Oh… OH…"

"Yeah…" Ivan said, looking rather uncomfortable.

"Well… I mean…" Winter tried, the words not really finding a proper place. "Are they awake?"

"No idea, I didn't check." Ivan said. "Probably should've done that."

"At least you admit it…" Winter said, smiling as she turned back to her datapad.

Ivan sighed, making his way back upstairs. Thankfully, Ivan didn't have to worry about their door being wide open as he knocked, hearing that their room was eerily silent. Even his augmented hearing couldn't detect anything. "Yang… Blake…?" Ivan asked, understanding of just how awkward the situation was dawning on him.

XXXXX

January 25, 2683; 1650 Hours

Remnant, Mistral (Camp Vorbeck)

Yang smiled as she heard the soft purring of her Faunus lover, currently buried in her shoulder. The pleasant afterglow that came with their recent escapades was still more than present. They had both drifted off into a very pleasant slumber for a short time, with Yang being the first one to wake up again.

Yang leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to Blake's forehead, causing the feline Faunus to stir slightly. She yawned, her eyes slowly fluttering open. Lilac met amber, and a small, sheepish smile crossed Blake's lips. "So…" She began. "That happened."

Yang hugged her tighter. "Yep… it did… And there's nobody I would've rather done it with." She leaned down, bringing Blake in for a short, chaste kiss. "I love you, Blake."

"I love you too, Yang." The two fell into a comfortable, pleasant silence as they laid, there, simply enjoying the company. It was so wonderfully peaceful, having their lover wrapped in their embrace.

Yang's heart nearly jumped into her chest when she heard a few short raps against the door. "Yang… Blake…?" The familiar voice of Ivan asked.

Blake and Yang both froze for a moment, with Yang being the first to break the momentary silence. "One second!" She responded, pulling the covers off and setting to work on getting dressed. Blake, naturally, was dressed far quicker than Yang, but the time difference was surprisingly short. Both had decided to don rather simplistic clothes, t-shirts and shorts.

Hoping to make the situation slightly less awkward, Yang moved to open the door, revealing a rather smug-looking Ivan. "Hey Ivan!" Yang said, doing her utmost to appear outwardly calm. "What's up?"

"The hot tub? Really?" Ivan asked, the damned smug smile crossing his face. Yang and Blake both turned beet-red, only making Ivan's smugness even more apparent.